Collaborating, networking and establishing worthwhile personal and professional relationships have always been the strong points of the Rossoneri community.

The partnerships we've set up aren't limited to brand or product promotion. Sponsors are asked to proactively get involved in initiatives, through which the Club promotes and spreads the positive values of football that have always been part of AC Milan's DNA.

What follows are some examples of the kind of collaboration that AC Milan and the Club's partners develop throughout the season.

Banco Popolare di Milano renewed its commitment to work with Milan Academy, such as in the running of the BPM Milan Cup where children and youngsters come together to reflect on the importance of fair play while having fun on the pitch. The chance to use the bank's historic headquarters free of charge for training courses designed to update and improve the work of coaches and managerial staff at the AC Milan Soccer Schools is also highly valued.

The AUDI Junior Cup falls into the same bracket: this is an event that brings together Italian and Chinese kids for three days of tournaments at Milanello training ground. Once again, sport is held up here as a valuable tool to encourage respect and offers a unique opportunity to get to know different cultures.

Sport is often synonymous with hard work and self-sacrifice. After all, only through self-sacrifice is it possible to achieve major objectives. For this reason, AC Milan has enthusiastically got behind the #everydayclimbers campaign promoted by Levissima. The campaign seeks to use individual stories to show that every one of us can reach small and large goals through patience and unrelenting effort. The career of Davide Calabria, who grew up in AC Milan's youth academy, is an example of this positive approach.

Finally, Emirates Airlines got actively involved during the first team's visit to EXPO 2015 and in their own pavilion at the trade fair, proof of the Club's awareness of the big social and cultural initiatives that animated this enormous international event.

During the season, a series of events were put on with the aim of sharing experiences and developing new synergies. As well as these institutional events, there were meetings inspired by the great collective drive that our partners have shown, along with the Club, when committing to the social initiatives promoted by the Milan Foundation.

Thirteen companies took part in two events organised by the Club to raise funds to support Sport for Change projects1. A particular note of thanks must go to Nutrilite and adidas, who, during the Milan Foundation's participation at Milan's Relay Marathon in 2016, promoted the relay and got runners and contacts involved in this charity race.

B2B Event

The B2B & Franciacorta Experience is an event dedicated to the Rossoneri's commercial partners that was set up to offer another opportunity to bring together the companies that populate AC Milan's business community.

In preparation for this business-networking occasion, a catalogue containing profiles of the companies and participants' positions is put together. Based on the interest shown, meetings and roundtable discussions are organised.

The 2015/2016 event involved 30 participants and 20 companies who met up for one-to-one chats among themselves and took part in team-building exercises.

AC Milan Sponsorship Award

Promoted by the Commercial Department, the AC Milan Sponsorship Award is the first competition specially for activations implemented jointly with the Club's commercial partners. The aim of this particular award, now into its second year, is to offer visibility to the various initiatives being carried out and encourage the sharing of best practices among partners.

Forty-seven activations were picked out from 2015/2016 and subdivided into four categories: Advertising, Web & Digital, Events and Stadium. An online platform was created to allow fans and anyone interested to vote for each category and decide the five winning companies.

The award for best Advertising activation went to the NIVEA MEN deodorant campaign, which featured Giacomo Bonaventura, Juraj Kucka, Andrea Bertolacci and Ignazio Abate in an advert that offered a tongue-in-cheek take on the habits and approach of men towards the usage of these products.

Huawei2 was picked out for the best Web & Digital activation after giving fans who purchased a Huawei Mate S the chance to enjoy an exclusive AC Milan experience.

The award in the Events category was given to Fujitsu's initiative at MCE Mostra Convegno Expocomfort 2016, the most important trade fair in the sector of hydraulics and thermotechnology. From 15 to 18 March 2016, Fujitsu hosted Christian Abbiati, Luca Antonelli, Kevin-Prince Boateng and legendary captain Franco Baresi, who shared the “hot” and “cold” moments from their footballing careers.

For the best Stadium activation, the Scendi in campo con McVitie’s (Take to the field with McVitie’s) contest took the prize. This competition took place during home games against Inter, Lazio and Juventus. Having received packs of biscuits with special codes on them at the entrance to the stadium, fans were entered into an instant-win competition which offered a lucky few the chance to come down onto the pitch and receive signed footballs and shirts from their heroes as a prize.

A special award was also given out to Kimbo, whose competition lasting the duration of the 2015/2016 season offered up over 1000 tickets to see Serie A and Serie B matches in Italy.

Finally, special mention should go to Emirates, who unveiled an especially meaningful project: an airbus A380 designed with life-like images of some of AC Milan's stars: Riccardo Montolivo, Carlos Bacca, Mario Balotelli, Mattia De Sciglio, Keisuke Honda and Alessio Romagnoli. The initiative was implemented in celebration of the ten-year anniversary of the partnership between two important organisations with millions of fans and customers all over the world. Yet again, it reinforced the bond between the Club and its fans in many different countries.

The award ceremony took place during the AC Milan Workshop in June.

Now into its 17th year, this workshop is an important occasion for the Club, sponsors and media outlets to convene after the end of the season in order to draw conclusions over what has been achieved and share strategies and new ideas for the future. Spread over three days, the event was a chance to reveal two significant new aspects for the 2016/2017 season: the Milan Media House3 and the new Hospitality Suite at the San Siro Stadium that was completely renovated for the Champions League final.